Conviction
Conviction. It's an odd thing, kind of hit and miss with different people and different families.
For a while now I've been struggling with conviction. Not in a bad way, mind you, more of a "where do I stand when it comes to this" kind of thing. For example: I'm eighteen years old, old enough not to have to tell my parents every time I make a new account online on a different website/forum. This past week I made an account on the How to Train Your Dragon site (yes, I like dragons. I think they're fun and I wanted to play some of the games) and I didn't mention it to my Mom. I had a nightmare that night about it, and I came and told her the next morning that I really didn't feel right not telling her what I was doing online. She appreciated that I was honest with her, but she told me I didn't have to tell her every time I did something or made an account or whatever. It was between me and God. It was my conviction on wither I told her about my different hobbies/games I played, and I needed to decide on my own what was the right thing to do.
I've been thinking a lot about convictions lately, and what families believe. I'm from a family that's fine with movies some more of the moderate violence action movies. I've seen films like Indiana Jones, The Hunt for Red October, Star Wars, and countless action/drama TV shows. We're fine watching those, but does that mean others are okay with it? No. Some of my friends aren't allowed to watch those kind of movies, and for me to talk about them and encourage they seem them is to go against their family's convictions. This is where it gets a little hard for me here. I'm afraid of people "judging" me on the fact that I watch films they aren't necessarily allowed to see. Yes, sometimes that happens, I have had people who judge me on how they believe. But that's not what a conviction is. A conviction is something you believe in, not based off what others believe in.
In the dictionary, when you look up the word Conviction, it states this:
Con-vic-tion
A firmly held belief or opinion.
ex: He felt convicted that he should never drink alcohol, no matter how little.
So conviction is a choice, a firm belief or opinion. Your conviction is your own, not someone else's.
I'm very convicted that I should have nothing to do with a popular TV show called Doctor Who. It's not one I recommend to anyone, it's kind of disturbing and demonic. But I have a lot of friends who are fine with it. Goodness, Ken Ham, the famous Creationist Scientist, watches it! I cannot watch it because it really bothers me. The main character proclaims in one episode that "if you're looking for a higher deity, it stops with me." That really bothered me, because the alien character, "the Doctor", said he was God basically. Also, some of the aliens in there take over people's bodies and minds, which seemed really demonic to me. It scared me, it bothered me, and my conviction is I cannot watch it. That was a hard decision for me to make, because a lot of the show is hilariously funny with a lot of quirky time travelling tales. I love time travel, it's one of my favorite subjects! But can I ditch my conviction for my wants?
Answer is no, I cannot. I don't feel right with God or with myself when I do that.
So why this sudden post on convictions? Why am I writing this up and sharing it with you?
Because perhaps you're struggling, trying to decide if you should do something or not. Mind you, it isn't necessarily bad the thing you like to do, (i.e, watching Indiana Jones) but is your conscience bothering you? Do you feel wrong doing whatever it is? Search your heart, God has the answers and may be trying to tell you something.
Before I close, I'd also like to point out that, just because you're convicted in a certain area doesn't mean your friends are. You may feel you can't read murder mysteries, it bothers your conscience. But your best friend's fine with doing it. Do not judge your friend because she/he doesn't feel the same way as you do. That's between them and God. What's important is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. This is the first commandment and the second one is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27-28) You can use this in context of what we're talking about. It could mean in this situation that if God's telling us we shouldn't do something or whatnot, we should follow His will with all our heart, soul and mind. Don't judge the people around you who think differently than you, because what's bad for you isn't necessarily bad for them. Does that give us/them an excuse to sin? No, but it isn't our place to judge others, either. That's God's job.
So how about it? Is there an area in your life that's bothering you, that you're not sure if it's a bad thing for you? Pray about it, talk to your parents. Perhaps you have a couple of convictions you need to establish between you and the Lord. I think I have some I need to settle too. So let's go to the Lord together and ask Him to show us what's the right thing for us to do in our lives.
Note: For more on this topic, read Romans 14 in the Bible. Great guide from Paul about convictions and how to act on them.
For a while now I've been struggling with conviction. Not in a bad way, mind you, more of a "where do I stand when it comes to this" kind of thing. For example: I'm eighteen years old, old enough not to have to tell my parents every time I make a new account online on a different website/forum. This past week I made an account on the How to Train Your Dragon site (yes, I like dragons. I think they're fun and I wanted to play some of the games) and I didn't mention it to my Mom. I had a nightmare that night about it, and I came and told her the next morning that I really didn't feel right not telling her what I was doing online. She appreciated that I was honest with her, but she told me I didn't have to tell her every time I did something or made an account or whatever. It was between me and God. It was my conviction on wither I told her about my different hobbies/games I played, and I needed to decide on my own what was the right thing to do.
I've been thinking a lot about convictions lately, and what families believe. I'm from a family that's fine with movies some more of the moderate violence action movies. I've seen films like Indiana Jones, The Hunt for Red October, Star Wars, and countless action/drama TV shows. We're fine watching those, but does that mean others are okay with it? No. Some of my friends aren't allowed to watch those kind of movies, and for me to talk about them and encourage they seem them is to go against their family's convictions. This is where it gets a little hard for me here. I'm afraid of people "judging" me on the fact that I watch films they aren't necessarily allowed to see. Yes, sometimes that happens, I have had people who judge me on how they believe. But that's not what a conviction is. A conviction is something you believe in, not based off what others believe in.
In the dictionary, when you look up the word Conviction, it states this:
Con-vic-tion
A firmly held belief or opinion.
ex: He felt convicted that he should never drink alcohol, no matter how little.
So conviction is a choice, a firm belief or opinion. Your conviction is your own, not someone else's.
I'm very convicted that I should have nothing to do with a popular TV show called Doctor Who. It's not one I recommend to anyone, it's kind of disturbing and demonic. But I have a lot of friends who are fine with it. Goodness, Ken Ham, the famous Creationist Scientist, watches it! I cannot watch it because it really bothers me. The main character proclaims in one episode that "if you're looking for a higher deity, it stops with me." That really bothered me, because the alien character, "the Doctor", said he was God basically. Also, some of the aliens in there take over people's bodies and minds, which seemed really demonic to me. It scared me, it bothered me, and my conviction is I cannot watch it. That was a hard decision for me to make, because a lot of the show is hilariously funny with a lot of quirky time travelling tales. I love time travel, it's one of my favorite subjects! But can I ditch my conviction for my wants?
Answer is no, I cannot. I don't feel right with God or with myself when I do that.
So why this sudden post on convictions? Why am I writing this up and sharing it with you?
Because perhaps you're struggling, trying to decide if you should do something or not. Mind you, it isn't necessarily bad the thing you like to do, (i.e, watching Indiana Jones) but is your conscience bothering you? Do you feel wrong doing whatever it is? Search your heart, God has the answers and may be trying to tell you something.
Before I close, I'd also like to point out that, just because you're convicted in a certain area doesn't mean your friends are. You may feel you can't read murder mysteries, it bothers your conscience. But your best friend's fine with doing it. Do not judge your friend because she/he doesn't feel the same way as you do. That's between them and God. What's important is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. This is the first commandment and the second one is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27-28) You can use this in context of what we're talking about. It could mean in this situation that if God's telling us we shouldn't do something or whatnot, we should follow His will with all our heart, soul and mind. Don't judge the people around you who think differently than you, because what's bad for you isn't necessarily bad for them. Does that give us/them an excuse to sin? No, but it isn't our place to judge others, either. That's God's job.
So how about it? Is there an area in your life that's bothering you, that you're not sure if it's a bad thing for you? Pray about it, talk to your parents. Perhaps you have a couple of convictions you need to establish between you and the Lord. I think I have some I need to settle too. So let's go to the Lord together and ask Him to show us what's the right thing for us to do in our lives.
Note: For more on this topic, read Romans 14 in the Bible. Great guide from Paul about convictions and how to act on them.
Wow. That was a really great post Calamity Rene. It got me thinking about my convictions/the convictions of my family, and why we have them. Thank you so, SO much for sharing this with us all from your heart. I, at least, really appreciate it. And I'm sure I'm not alone. :)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome Rebekah. I'm glad I could encourage you. This has been something I've been thinking about for a while, and I wanted to write it up to help others, too. Glad I could be of some encouragement! Hope to see more comments from you in the future!
DeleteThank you so much! I SO agree with Rebekah!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very important topic and I would say that you hit the nail on the head! It's a difficult subject to cover in only a few paragraphs and you did a wonderful job!
I LOOOOOVE Star Wars! It's great! Have you seen "Return of the Sith"? That's the one my parents won't let me watch.
When will you post the best caption?
God bless!
I'm glad I could encourage you too, Bethany. :) It's a very important topic, I think, and it's good to know that others think so too.
DeleteYou and my sister A. would love talking to each other. She's your age. She's seen all the Star Wars movies except for the one you haven't seen. I actually am not much of a Star Wars fan (I love Qui Gon Jinn, he's my favorite Jedi ever!), though I enjoy watching it once in a while. I'm a big Indiana Jones fan, I've seen all four movies. I wouldn't recommend them all, but the Third and Fourth one are pretty clean. The Fourth one (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) is the cleanest, but it's also the weirdest. Last Crusade is the second cleanest and it's my favorite. Hilarious! I love a lot of the quirky lines between Indy and his Dad. :)
Thanks for commenting! Next Best Caption will be posted on Tuesday. :)
This was soo awesome! Thank you for being honest with us!
ReplyDeleteI've definitely been setting some boundaries for myself lately, such as: I'm against the Harry Potter series, but I'm just fine with Chronicles of Narnia. Or, I don't care how many people around me are doing it, I will not paint my nails black, since the whole black nail polish is a symbol for rebellion.
Thank you soo much for this wonderful post! You are soo right!
I'm very much against the Harry Potter series too, but I do like Chronicles of Narnia. :) I love Aslan. It's good to set boundaries and limitations, so you know where you stand on things.
DeleteThanks for commenting Audrey and sharing with us!